


In My Dreams and Underneath My Skin

by grimblackdog



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5702398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimblackdog/pseuds/grimblackdog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up, Poe had nightmares of stormtroopers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In My Dreams and Underneath My Skin

Every kid this side of the Republic knew the stories of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. When Poe first met General Organa, he was six years old, and so starstruck that all the words he had saved up for her flew from his head. He looked up at her, wide-eyed, and she smiled at him with eyes crinkled at the corners. He went to bed that night and dreamed of saving the galaxy, dipping and diving through space in a shiny, fast X-Wing, shooting at the Empire, his friends at his side. 

On other nights, his dreams weren’t as bright. He dreamed of being lost, surrounded by forest, snow, or sand, alone in a world he didn’t know. He called for his parents, but his voice was too quiet, and they couldn’t hear. Poe heard footsteps in the distance, rhythmic and steadily approaching. He turned and saw them: soldiers, encased in white armor, dull black lenses for eyes, guns in their hands. He ran, but they were never far behind, marching on ceaselessly behind him, until he finally awoke with a gasp, frantic and panting. On some nights, his mom would be there to soothe him, to brush his curls away from his forehead and tell him that it was all a dream. She’d tell him that there was nothing to be afraid of, and then in the morning she’d fly off and fight the stormtroopers herself.

\---

At 32, Poe had spent over a decade fighting for the Resistance, and he’d faced off against stormtroopers on dozens of missions. He’s seen hundreds of blank, precise, coordinated soldiers, and he rarely had nightmares at all anymore. When he did, they usually featured his friends, Jess or Snap, calling for his help from somewhere just out of reach. His friend’s helpless faces could scare him more than any army of stormtroopers ever could. Stormtroopers were empty, lifeless, and uncaring. Logically, Poe knew that they were people underneath—or something like it—but in all his years in the Resistance, he had never once seen one remove his helmet. Until today.  


After Kylo Ren left him, Poe squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the world. He felt as if the inside of his skull had been scraped over with a fork, with a careless cruelty. He opened his eyes and stared dully at the ceiling, trying not to think about BB-8, Luke Skywalker, and all his Resistance friends he’d just unconsciously betrayed. Whatever happened next, it would be his fault. And had a feeling that he wouldn’t survive long enough to see it. 

Poe was still lost in dark thoughts when the new stormtrooper burst in. He pulled off his helmet, and immediately started bargaining with Poe to escape the ship and save both their lives. Whatever Poe had expected to lie under a stormtrooper’s mask, it was nothing like this. He was young, and his eyes were frantic, wide, and guileless. If this was a trap, Poe was willing to risk his life falling for it. 

Not long after, they were both miraculously free, soaring away in a Tie fighter, the stormtrooper—Finn, brave, amazing, wonderful Finn—yelling in victory. If they could just make it back to Jakku and find BB-8 before the Order did, they might be able to complete his mission after all. They might be able to find Luke Skywalker. They might even save the galaxy.  


Poe never would have guessed that a stormtrooper could turn a living nightmare into one of his best dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> Spare a comment or kudos for my very first fic?


End file.
